Social networking is clearly one of those things that isn't going to go away - and nor, in my opinion, should it. I think it's a great way to keep in touch with people, as well as to reach out with the information you have. It makes sense, then, for libraries to join in and make a space for ourselves.
I enjoyed reading about the different things being done on SecondLife with and by Libraries, though I admit, I can't imagine that kind of thing ever getting of the ground here. I know that libraries in the US, in particular, are larger than ours, with more staff, which probably helps: we just don't have the time, at least in my library. Even doing this course has primarily had to be in my lunch breaks, or whenever I had a few minutes free to scribble some more things down. My branch is already understaffed, and I don't believe that the central library really has it any better - there just isn't time to dedicate to these extras, when we have so much face-to-face to work on. Also, our network infrastructure clearly isn't as good over here: it takes us often ten minutes to download a YouTube clip. There's no way we could do anything on SecondLife without bringing everyone else to a halt, and really doing something nasty to the network.
But if SecondLife is, for the moment, out of the question, that doesn't mean all social networking is. I know we've talked about Facebook and Myspace within my library, and I think these are things we will be pursuing over the next few months or so. There's some talk about letting people search the catalogue through facebook applications, for example, but I think the main point of introducing these things would be for some quick and easy self-advertisement. Book talks, for example, links to interesting resources, or, if we were able to put a little more time into it, maybe even a quick-answer reference service - just basic answers, but still, right there in the middle of Facebook.
Of course, the trouble with this is that our teens in this area are not terribly engaged with the library. They'll come in and use our stuff (sometimes), but they have no interest in really getting involved. And while there are plenty of 20-somethings that also use Facebook and Myspace, and so on, they're equally not as inclined towards getting involved, at least in this way. But maybe if it was available, we could use it to help. I'm a little dubious (I'd only barely be interested in joining this kind of thing, and I actually work for the library), but it's not impossible. Obviously other people have made a go of it, and successfully, too.
I wonder if there would be young adult authors out there willing to do online author talks - question and answer sessions, primarily, I guess, since the medium is best for interaction. There are a lot of authors I know we'd have interest in (I'm thinking people like Anthony Horowitz, for example) that we can't necessarily get out here. That kind of thing might not get them INTO the library, but, at the end of the day, I'm less concerned about getting people in, and more about being of service to them. Hm. I may have to do somet thinking on this.
Anyway, I guess that nicely wraps up the end of this course, for me. I've found it really interesting, even though I did know a bit about a lot of the things we've used before. It was excellent to put them into a library context, instead of a personal user context. I'm not sure, honestly, that we'll be implementing much that we've looked at here, into our library - but that doesn't mean it won't be useful information to share. And, who knows: maybe we'll get more money, one day.
One day.
(Hahahaha. Okay. I know).
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
All this kind of stuff is rad. And it's not the kind of thing I would have ever thought of. I mean, five years ago? The idea would have seemed incomprehensible. And yet, it is so incredibly useful.
I've actually used GoogleDocs before. For a while, I was managing the 'swaps' section of a website. So if someone had something they didn't want, they could swap it, for money or another product, with someone else. And in doing that successfully, you got swap points, which proved to other people that you were worth swapping with. Anyway. Long story. When I took over the whole thing, I had to be e-mailed all the files, save them, and then keep editing them at home. But that meant that if I had a spare five minutes at some point, when I was not at home, I couldn't do anything with them. So I set them all up in GoogleDocs, which let me fix them up anywhere I wanted, and when I passed the whole thing on to someone else, I just had to give them the gmail login details, and they could work from there. Simple. Straightforward. Easy.
I imagine it will be some time before libraries even consider getting rid of their Microsoft products and instituting GoogleDocs or similar - it involves too much fiddling around with more logins, and, also, Microsoft Office is an institution. For better or for worse, we have it (though if I was in charge we'd be using OpenOffice, but that's another story). Still, I do absolutely recommend GoogleDocs to customers who don't, for example, have a USB memory stick on them, but want to be able to save their documents somehow. E-mail also works, but the real benefit of GoogleDocs is being able to access them from anywhere, whatever the software installed on the computer. We do loan out USB memory sticks (I think it's a one week loan, on their card, same as for any item), but if they have the internet at home, I tend to recommend GoogleDocs.
It's also useful for me, as an employee. Sometimes, when I'm writing an important letter or document, I want to be able to sit down without interruptions, and just finish it off. If I work on it in GoogleDocs, then, I can take it home with me without any kind of compatability problem (I have a Mac at home, see), and do some of it there. It also means that I can share documents with coworkers, and we can work on things together even if we're not in the same building or location, or even working on it at the same time. I love that kind of flexibility.
Utilities like Zamzar are great, too, and I wish I'd known about that one in particular sooner. We had a problem for a little while because people have been showing up with docx files, created in the latest version of Microsoft Office - which we don't have. There is a utility you can install to allow the version we have to read these documents, but because our computers are locked down against software installation, we can't actually use it without getting IT to install it for us. Which was painful for a while, because we kept having to tell people that we just couldn't open those files. But using Zamzar? We could just convert them to doc files, and to be done with it. Easy. And there are so many file formats it can work with! I'm really impressed.
I had a look at Zoho, which I'd never touched before, to see how it compared to GoogleDocs. It definitely does a lot more, but it's also, therefore, a little more complicated. That said, it's not really any more complicated than using the Office equivalent, except that it's a little be different in layout. I really do like the convenience of just being logged in to one account (my gmail account) for everything, but I'd be tempted to use Zoho anyway, just because it has so many more features - and I am a feature girl.
All of this is food for thought, anyway. We're moving further and further away from external storage devices, I think. None of our computers here at work have a floppy drive, for example. And if you look at computers like the Eee PC or the Macbook Air, well, they don't even have a built in CD-ROM drive. Using something like GoogleDocs or Zoho means that you don't need huge amounts of storage on your computer, either, because it's all stored online. It makes a lot of sense to me, as connections get faster, and bandwidth bigger.
I've actually used GoogleDocs before. For a while, I was managing the 'swaps' section of a website. So if someone had something they didn't want, they could swap it, for money or another product, with someone else. And in doing that successfully, you got swap points, which proved to other people that you were worth swapping with. Anyway. Long story. When I took over the whole thing, I had to be e-mailed all the files, save them, and then keep editing them at home. But that meant that if I had a spare five minutes at some point, when I was not at home, I couldn't do anything with them. So I set them all up in GoogleDocs, which let me fix them up anywhere I wanted, and when I passed the whole thing on to someone else, I just had to give them the gmail login details, and they could work from there. Simple. Straightforward. Easy.
I imagine it will be some time before libraries even consider getting rid of their Microsoft products and instituting GoogleDocs or similar - it involves too much fiddling around with more logins, and, also, Microsoft Office is an institution. For better or for worse, we have it (though if I was in charge we'd be using OpenOffice, but that's another story). Still, I do absolutely recommend GoogleDocs to customers who don't, for example, have a USB memory stick on them, but want to be able to save their documents somehow. E-mail also works, but the real benefit of GoogleDocs is being able to access them from anywhere, whatever the software installed on the computer. We do loan out USB memory sticks (I think it's a one week loan, on their card, same as for any item), but if they have the internet at home, I tend to recommend GoogleDocs.
It's also useful for me, as an employee. Sometimes, when I'm writing an important letter or document, I want to be able to sit down without interruptions, and just finish it off. If I work on it in GoogleDocs, then, I can take it home with me without any kind of compatability problem (I have a Mac at home, see), and do some of it there. It also means that I can share documents with coworkers, and we can work on things together even if we're not in the same building or location, or even working on it at the same time. I love that kind of flexibility.
Utilities like Zamzar are great, too, and I wish I'd known about that one in particular sooner. We had a problem for a little while because people have been showing up with docx files, created in the latest version of Microsoft Office - which we don't have. There is a utility you can install to allow the version we have to read these documents, but because our computers are locked down against software installation, we can't actually use it without getting IT to install it for us. Which was painful for a while, because we kept having to tell people that we just couldn't open those files. But using Zamzar? We could just convert them to doc files, and to be done with it. Easy. And there are so many file formats it can work with! I'm really impressed.
I had a look at Zoho, which I'd never touched before, to see how it compared to GoogleDocs. It definitely does a lot more, but it's also, therefore, a little more complicated. That said, it's not really any more complicated than using the Office equivalent, except that it's a little be different in layout. I really do like the convenience of just being logged in to one account (my gmail account) for everything, but I'd be tempted to use Zoho anyway, just because it has so many more features - and I am a feature girl.
All of this is food for thought, anyway. We're moving further and further away from external storage devices, I think. None of our computers here at work have a floppy drive, for example. And if you look at computers like the Eee PC or the Macbook Air, well, they don't even have a built in CD-ROM drive. Using something like GoogleDocs or Zoho means that you don't need huge amounts of storage on your computer, either, because it's all stored online. It makes a lot of sense to me, as connections get faster, and bandwidth bigger.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
LOLcat! Though, I have to admit, I am not a funny person... so it's not very clever. But. Still. Cute! I liked using that utility to make it: it was so easy! And there are so many options for things you could make with it... if you had access to a really decent printer, for example, printing up some of those calendars with local studies images, or whatever, would be a great thing. But I am much more interested in some of the other things you can do with this kind of technology, like the London: A Life in Maps, and then Star Viewer. So convenient! I used that kind of thing when I was travelling, a few years back, by placing marks on a map of where I was staying, different museums and shops I wanted to visit, and where all the transport was. It made it much easier to plan my days, because I could see where things were in relation to each other.
In a library-specific context, the first thing I thought of was WebFeat, or any other federated search utility. The idea is that you have one 'search engine', which searches not only your library catalogue, but also any other source you nominate - your online databases, for example, a local bookstore, and so on. This is something we are going to be instituting in my library, and I can't wait: the possibilities are endless! I see more use in this than in a lot of other kinds of mashup. I can see libraries using things like the London: A Life in maps, and the Star Viewer, but not necessarily creating them. That said, local studies could do a lot with this kind of thing - linking to sites of interest, adding in old photos, and so on. But I just can't see them ever having the time to work on that (at least, not in my library).
We have talked, vaguely, about putting together a facebook application that allows people to use our library catalogue from their facebook profile. I'm not really sure how many people would use that kind of thing, though. I mean, the catalogue is already online. Why would you go through facebook, instead of directly through the website? But I may not be the target audience for that.
The point of all of this is that I think mashups are really useful, and that there are definitely going to be ways to use them effectively within a library context (and it won't be because of LOLcats). I think we need to be aware of what is out there, and how it might be useful to us, and to our clients, but I think most of them are better suited to individuals, with individual needs.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Who said radio was dead?
Podcasts! My favourite!
I'm a big audio book fan - I spend up to two hours in the car every day, so it's a great way to get some reading in when I would otherwise just be wasting time. Plus, I find, early in the morning, listening to something that requires my concentration is a much better way at making sure I stay alert.
Podcasts, for me, are a similar concept. At home, I subscribe to a number of different ones, which iTunes helpfully downloads and organises for me, so that when I plug my iPod in, they get loaded on, ready for me to listen to on my way to and from work.
That's not the only way I use podcasts, though. The SciFi channel in the US, for example, has made available audio commentaries for episodes of Battlestar Galactica, via podcast. So I can download these and play them concurrently with episodes, much like I would with an audio commentary included on a DVD. For a movie/TV buff like me, this is awesome: I love hearing all of that, and I love that it just arrives on my computer, like magic, ready for listening to.
In a library context, I think podcasts are much more useful than videos, at least for training purposes. Videos are great for showing things (like an author talk - though that could also work as a podcast), but not so good for letting people learn things hands on. With a podcast, you could have someone listen as they follow the instructions offered, thereby connecting them with the learning process. And, of course, they could always pause, or go back, if they needed more time to get the concept. I'm far too impatient to sit and watch video clips unless I'm really interested in the subject; I'd far rather figure something out for myself, through trial and error. But I'd probably listen to something, as I tried things out.
So I guess that would work for both staff and patrons. And yes, author talks could also be presented that way (and they'd certainly need less bandwidth as podcasts, which has certainly been a problem with YouTube... it's very slow for us, here at work). I know audio from Council meetings are put on our Council's website, though I can't see any library meetings needing that kind of attention. Still, I like the concept of making things available this way.
I imagine this is also useful for reference. Not so much that we would create our own - but OEDb list is an excellent resource, for example. I'm a big fan of making this information freely available, so anyone can have a listen.
Who said radio was dead! We just... evolved a bit, I guess.
I'm a big audio book fan - I spend up to two hours in the car every day, so it's a great way to get some reading in when I would otherwise just be wasting time. Plus, I find, early in the morning, listening to something that requires my concentration is a much better way at making sure I stay alert.
Podcasts, for me, are a similar concept. At home, I subscribe to a number of different ones, which iTunes helpfully downloads and organises for me, so that when I plug my iPod in, they get loaded on, ready for me to listen to on my way to and from work.
That's not the only way I use podcasts, though. The SciFi channel in the US, for example, has made available audio commentaries for episodes of Battlestar Galactica, via podcast. So I can download these and play them concurrently with episodes, much like I would with an audio commentary included on a DVD. For a movie/TV buff like me, this is awesome: I love hearing all of that, and I love that it just arrives on my computer, like magic, ready for listening to.
In a library context, I think podcasts are much more useful than videos, at least for training purposes. Videos are great for showing things (like an author talk - though that could also work as a podcast), but not so good for letting people learn things hands on. With a podcast, you could have someone listen as they follow the instructions offered, thereby connecting them with the learning process. And, of course, they could always pause, or go back, if they needed more time to get the concept. I'm far too impatient to sit and watch video clips unless I'm really interested in the subject; I'd far rather figure something out for myself, through trial and error. But I'd probably listen to something, as I tried things out.
So I guess that would work for both staff and patrons. And yes, author talks could also be presented that way (and they'd certainly need less bandwidth as podcasts, which has certainly been a problem with YouTube... it's very slow for us, here at work). I know audio from Council meetings are put on our Council's website, though I can't see any library meetings needing that kind of attention. Still, I like the concept of making things available this way.
I imagine this is also useful for reference. Not so much that we would create our own - but OEDb list is an excellent resource, for example. I'm a big fan of making this information freely available, so anyone can have a listen.
Who said radio was dead! We just... evolved a bit, I guess.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Answers, answers, answers
Although neither are places I usually hang out, I have actually, recently, had need to look at WikiAnswers and Yahoo!7 Answers. I bought a handbag from Etsy, which is effectively an online craft market, full of people selling the things they make from necklaces to handbags to clothes to, you know, whatever else. It arrived, exactly what I wanted, except that it smelled very strongly of stale smoke. I had a look through various answer boards, and was able, therefore, to get the smoke smell out with lots of fresh air and vinegar steam. Magic!
Anyway, I really do love the concept of Librarians jumping in and reminding people how useful we are for these things. Unfortunately, these days, most people feel like the Internet will tell them everything - and while to some extent, that's not entirely untrue, they are missing out on valuable information by bypassing us. Even if only one in every fifty people who notices how good we are at answering these sticky questions goes to the library, next time, or even just registers that Librarians might be a good resource, well, that's enough to make it worthwhile.
(Besides, I think the whole thing is kind of fun.)
I wish we had time at my library to officially participate in this kind of thing. We don't provide any online answer service, and while there are plenty of places that will do it for people, a lot of people don't think to use them anyway. I just really like the idea of reaching out into the community, and reminding people about us - because this is the kind of thing we are actually good at.
I'm tempted to start seeing if I can start answering more things, in my Librarian-guise (glasses: on). Maybe we can't do it officially, but I can still put in my two cents.
I'd really like it if we had a rating system within the library, too. We're always begging for feedback, and we almost always just get complaints from people - which is a shame, because I know that there are heaps of people who just love what we do, but never think to say it. And getting reviews or ratings on the items we have in the collection would make it more interactive, and a better resource: you'd know which books are the ones people thought were good. Unfortunately, people are not used to being interactive with their library. It would take a lot of reconditioning before people thought to actually use any such feature.
Scanning through the questions asked on these sites, I do have to say that there are a lot of very stupid people out there, asking really stupid things. The amount of people who want someone to do their homework for them! Or validate their beliefs. Also, I can find answers with seriously two minutes of googling - how lazy are people? Evidently, very lazy. I answered this question in seconds. I wikipediaed home schooling, and just followed their reference to how many children were home schooled. Easy. No wonder people are too lazy to go to the library!
(Okay, I accept that not everyone is as good at googling or wikipediaing as I might be. But...)
Anyway. That was fun!
Anyway, I really do love the concept of Librarians jumping in and reminding people how useful we are for these things. Unfortunately, these days, most people feel like the Internet will tell them everything - and while to some extent, that's not entirely untrue, they are missing out on valuable information by bypassing us. Even if only one in every fifty people who notices how good we are at answering these sticky questions goes to the library, next time, or even just registers that Librarians might be a good resource, well, that's enough to make it worthwhile.
(Besides, I think the whole thing is kind of fun.)
I wish we had time at my library to officially participate in this kind of thing. We don't provide any online answer service, and while there are plenty of places that will do it for people, a lot of people don't think to use them anyway. I just really like the idea of reaching out into the community, and reminding people about us - because this is the kind of thing we are actually good at.
I'm tempted to start seeing if I can start answering more things, in my Librarian-guise (glasses: on). Maybe we can't do it officially, but I can still put in my two cents.
I'd really like it if we had a rating system within the library, too. We're always begging for feedback, and we almost always just get complaints from people - which is a shame, because I know that there are heaps of people who just love what we do, but never think to say it. And getting reviews or ratings on the items we have in the collection would make it more interactive, and a better resource: you'd know which books are the ones people thought were good. Unfortunately, people are not used to being interactive with their library. It would take a lot of reconditioning before people thought to actually use any such feature.
Scanning through the questions asked on these sites, I do have to say that there are a lot of very stupid people out there, asking really stupid things. The amount of people who want someone to do their homework for them! Or validate their beliefs. Also, I can find answers with seriously two minutes of googling - how lazy are people? Evidently, very lazy. I answered this question in seconds. I wikipediaed home schooling, and just followed their reference to how many children were home schooled. Easy. No wonder people are too lazy to go to the library!
(Okay, I accept that not everyone is as good at googling or wikipediaing as I might be. But...)
Anyway. That was fun!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Long time now blog - yay, Easter. Or, if we're really being honest, boo Masters assignments. While I am confident that having my Masters will eventually be of some use (if only in impressing someone who knows nothing about higher education, and the real use of theoretical subjects), the actual doing it is proving difficult. I'm sorry, but very little I have ever learned in higher education, particularly things relating to management, and especially IT, has any practical application in the real world. Things work differently, here.
Anyway. All that aside...
I'm now back to finish up week seven. I started off looking at del.icio.us whenever that was, and now I'll finish off with technorati and LibraryThing. I tried the suggested searches in Technorati, and got the same results for both, which had something to do with the fact that it was a single word search. I did a random search for 'brown rabbit', which came up with over 3000 results in the basic search, and 74 for the exact phrase (or 2000 odd for both words). Alas, a search for 'sock girl' brings up mostly porn. I'm not sure that I'd use Technorati on a regular basis for anything - I manage perfectly well on my own, finding the kind of things I want. (It's worth noting that, once upon a time, someone randomly googled up my online journal with only a random phrase that I happened to use, and turned out to live about fifteen ks away, and is now my Significant Other. And that was before Technorati - or at least before I'd ever heard of it).
Actually, I suppose if I was looking for what people were saying about a specific thing, at a specific time, Technorati might be useful. And perhaps, in that context, I can see it being useful for libraries to know about it. Still. I don't know. Not convinced.
Meanwhile: LibraryThing! I have long been enamoured with LibraryThing, although my few forays into this kind of thing have focused on Delicious Library, because that particular brand of personal library database will scan barcodes using the inbuilt iSight webcam in my Mac. And there is nothing better, in my mind, that being able to scan a barcode instead of type in an ISBN, don't you think? (Obviously, at work, I have access to a normal barcode scanner, but not at home). Unfortunately, I never got very far, because (at least at that point - things may have changed since) the databases it took results from were all American or British, and either didn't recognise my Australian barcodes, or had different covers (and I am too much of a perfectionist to let that slip). So.
I do love the concept of this kind of software, though. The idea of being able to share information about what you're reading, find out things you might like based on who shares books with you, and so on, is an awesome tool. I do similar things on Facebook, through a similar tool, and I really enjoy seeing what people I know are reading, and what they've thought of it. This kind of tool would be great within a library, because it provides an instant selection of books that other people have enjoyed, which you might also.
Please excuse my inability to write a proper english sentence today. Call it post-Masters assignment brain. Yes. That's it.
Anyway, I've put a link to the rss feed for my LibraryThing account on the sidebar of this page. Yes, okay, I did just scan in the barcodes of the closest books at hand (a couple are my personal reading material, and a couple are in here waiting for re-cataloguing or repair).
Anyway. All that aside...
I'm now back to finish up week seven. I started off looking at del.icio.us whenever that was, and now I'll finish off with technorati and LibraryThing. I tried the suggested searches in Technorati, and got the same results for both, which had something to do with the fact that it was a single word search. I did a random search for 'brown rabbit', which came up with over 3000 results in the basic search, and 74 for the exact phrase (or 2000 odd for both words). Alas, a search for 'sock girl' brings up mostly porn. I'm not sure that I'd use Technorati on a regular basis for anything - I manage perfectly well on my own, finding the kind of things I want. (It's worth noting that, once upon a time, someone randomly googled up my online journal with only a random phrase that I happened to use, and turned out to live about fifteen ks away, and is now my Significant Other. And that was before Technorati - or at least before I'd ever heard of it).
Actually, I suppose if I was looking for what people were saying about a specific thing, at a specific time, Technorati might be useful. And perhaps, in that context, I can see it being useful for libraries to know about it. Still. I don't know. Not convinced.
Meanwhile: LibraryThing! I have long been enamoured with LibraryThing, although my few forays into this kind of thing have focused on Delicious Library, because that particular brand of personal library database will scan barcodes using the inbuilt iSight webcam in my Mac. And there is nothing better, in my mind, that being able to scan a barcode instead of type in an ISBN, don't you think? (Obviously, at work, I have access to a normal barcode scanner, but not at home). Unfortunately, I never got very far, because (at least at that point - things may have changed since) the databases it took results from were all American or British, and either didn't recognise my Australian barcodes, or had different covers (and I am too much of a perfectionist to let that slip). So.
I do love the concept of this kind of software, though. The idea of being able to share information about what you're reading, find out things you might like based on who shares books with you, and so on, is an awesome tool. I do similar things on Facebook, through a similar tool, and I really enjoy seeing what people I know are reading, and what they've thought of it. This kind of tool would be great within a library, because it provides an instant selection of books that other people have enjoyed, which you might also.
Please excuse my inability to write a proper english sentence today. Call it post-Masters assignment brain. Yes. That's it.
Anyway, I've put a link to the rss feed for my LibraryThing account on the sidebar of this page. Yes, okay, I did just scan in the barcodes of the closest books at hand (a couple are my personal reading material, and a couple are in here waiting for re-cataloguing or repair).
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
NOM NOM NOM
(See? That title? It was a joke. Maybe an internet in-joke. You know, linking LOLCats and the funny of del.icio.us... No? Oh well.)
I like del.icio.us very much; I think it's an awesome tool. I'm one of those people who has a dozen or so sites that I keep up with, many of which are things like forums, which can't really be kept up with by RSS feed. At home, of course, I have everything bookmarked nicely, but if I'm not at home, and I want to check up on something? I just jump on to del.icio.us, and there everything is, lined up and waiting for me - and organised exactly the way I want it, because that's what tagging is for.
Though my library doesn't use this tool, I think we should. We have a fairly substantial database of links housed on our intranet; to me, it makes much, much more sense if it were housed publically, allowing library staff members to add new links at will, and patrons to find things we've recommended. The tagging system makes it very easy to find things; it's exactly the kind of thing we library staff love.
I sometimes feel that we (as libraries) try and hold some of our cards close to our chest, as if to reassure ourselves that people will always need to come and use us if we don't just give them everything from afar. But I think making this kind of thing public is exactly what we should be doing, because it broadcasts what we, as librarians, can do. It's just another service we offer. I'd like to see more libraries show this kind of thing off.
I like del.icio.us very much; I think it's an awesome tool. I'm one of those people who has a dozen or so sites that I keep up with, many of which are things like forums, which can't really be kept up with by RSS feed. At home, of course, I have everything bookmarked nicely, but if I'm not at home, and I want to check up on something? I just jump on to del.icio.us, and there everything is, lined up and waiting for me - and organised exactly the way I want it, because that's what tagging is for.
Though my library doesn't use this tool, I think we should. We have a fairly substantial database of links housed on our intranet; to me, it makes much, much more sense if it were housed publically, allowing library staff members to add new links at will, and patrons to find things we've recommended. The tagging system makes it very easy to find things; it's exactly the kind of thing we library staff love.
I sometimes feel that we (as libraries) try and hold some of our cards close to our chest, as if to reassure ourselves that people will always need to come and use us if we don't just give them everything from afar. But I think making this kind of thing public is exactly what we should be doing, because it broadcasts what we, as librarians, can do. It's just another service we offer. I'd like to see more libraries show this kind of thing off.
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